Ancient Egypt eBook

Such a condition of things was, of course, fatal to
literature and art. Art, as has been said, “did
not so much decline as disappear.” After
Sheshonk I. no monarch of the line left any building
or sculpture of the slightest importance. The
very tombs became unpretentious, and merely repeated
antique forms without any of the antique spirit.
Each Apis, indeed, had, in his turn, his arched tomb
cut for him in the solid rock of the Serapeum at Memphis,
and was laid to rest in a stone sarcophagus, formed
of a single block. A stela, moreover, was in every
case inscribed and set up to his memory: but
the stelae were rude memorials, devoid of all artistic
taste; the tombs were mere reproductions of old models;
and the inscriptions were of the dullest and most
prosaic kind. Here is one, as a specimen:
“In the year 2, the month Mechir, on the first
day of the month, under the reign of King Pimai, the
god Apis was carried to his rest in the beautiful
region of the west, and was laid in the grave, and
deposited in his everlasting house and his eternal
abode. He was born in the year 28, in the time
of the deceased king, Sheshonk III. His glory
was sought for in all places of Lower Egypt. He
was found after some months in the city of Hashedabot.
He was solemnly introduced into the temple of Phthah,
beside his father—­the Memphian god Phthah
of the south wall—­by the high-priest in
the temple of Phthah, the great prince of the Mashuash,
Petise, the son of the high-priest of Memphis and great
prince of the Mashuash, Takelut, and of the princess
of royal race, Thes-bast-per, in the year 28, in the
month of Paophi, on the first day of the month.
The full lifetime of this god amounted to twenty-six
years.” Such is the historical literature
of the period. The only other kind of literature
belonging to it which has come down to us, consists
of what are called “Magical Texts.”
These are to the following effect:—­“When
Horns weeps, the water that falls from his eyes grows
into plants producing a sweet perfume. When Typhon
lets fall blood from his nose, it grows into plants
changing to cedars, and produces turpentine instead
of the water. When Shu and Tefnut weep much, and
water falls from their eyes, it changes into plants
that produce incense. When the Sun weeps a second
time, and lets water fall from his eyes, it is changed
into working bees; they work in the flowers of each
kind, and honey and wax are produced instead of the
water. When the Sun becomes weak, he lets fall
the perspiration of his members, and this changes
to a liquid.” Or again—­“To
make a magic mixture: Take two grains of incense,
two fumigations, two jars of cedar-oil, two jars of
tas, two jars of wine, two jars of spirits of
wine. Apply it at the place of thy heart.
Thou art protected against the accidents of life;
thou art protected against a violent death; thou art
protected against fire; thou art not ruined on earth,
and thou escapest in heaven.”